Young leads Seattle Pacific

Young leads Seattle Pacific

From Kean to Nebraska, freshmen everywhere are making plays

Clerk helps Kean knock off No. 3 Wesley
Linebacker Matt Clerk made a quick name for himself. The freshman defender was instrumental in Kean’s season-opening 31-28 win against No. 3 Wesley on Saturday and was honored as the NJAC Defensive Rookie of the Week.

Defensively, Kean allowed 463 yards of total offense and Wesley converted on 3 of 4 trips inside the red zone and on 8 of 15 third-down tries, but the Cougars made stops when it mattered most. In the first game of his collegiate career, Clerk assisted on those stops three times and came up with a clutch play as he forced a key fumble on Wesley’s final offensive possession to help seal the Cougars' win.

Clerk also was credited for a blocked a punt in the second quarter, and was on the field on special teams when the Cougars blocked a second punt in the game.

Young scored two goals for Seattle Pacific in the first meeting with UNO since the 2005 Division II title game.

Seattle Pacific Athletics

Young posts first two career goals while helping Seattle Pacific in a rout
While she wasn't even a part of the program six years ago when Seattle Pacific played in the national title game, freshman forward Heather Young still wanted to play like a champion. She did on Saturday as she scored the first two goals of her collegiate career to lead the Falcons to a 5-0 rout of Nebraska-Omaha in a non-conference game.

The last time the teams met was in the 2005 NCAA Division II championship game, which Nebraska-Omaha won 2-1 in overtime. Now, the Mavericks are in their first year transitioning to Division I, so the victory was even sweeter.

Young put Seattle Pacific on the board at the 20:22 mark with a 20-yard blast from the right side that ricocheted off the near post and into the back left corner. Her second score came at 53:16 when she got her head on a high cross from sophomore defender Josie Graybeal and put it in from five yards in front of the left post.

Behind the play of the freshmen, the defending GNAC champion Vikings won their 12th consecutive match at Carver Gym, dating back to the 2009 season.

Western jumped ahead early in the opening set and never trailed, including scoring four consecutive points after the Wildcats had rallied to tie at 14. The onslaught continued as Hutchinson served 10 of the Vikings' 11 conseuctive points in set two to take a commanding 21-9 lead.

Moore then helped Western overcome a 22-16 deficit in the third set, including a kill as part of three consecutive points to lead 24-21, while the Vikings scored nine of the last 10 points.

After the Hatters took an early 1-0 lead on a Jonathan Mendoza goal in the 18th minute, Albrecht tied the game at 1-1 just 10 minutes later when he hustled down the middle of the field and beat the keeper one-on-one for his second goal of the season. Two minutes later, Mendoza broke the tie with his fifth goal of the year.

The Panthers trailed 2-1 at the half, but responded nicely when freshman Colby Burdette made it a new ballgame in the 49th minute. After senior Lucas Di Croce peppered the Stetson goalie with a hard shot, Burdette corralled the rebound off the keeper and buried it into the back of the net for his second goal of the season.

Two minutes into double overtime (102nd minute), Albrecht broke the tie and netted the game-winner into the lower left corner of the net past a diving Andreas Schnabl to secure the victory. Senior Nicholas Chase started the scoring opportunity with a long ball to Burdette, who passed it to Albrecht for the go-ahead goal.

Mackey scores four in MIT blowout
Freshman Caitlin Mackey recorded her first-career hat trick before finishing with four goals to help MIT down visiting Lasell in non-conference field hockey action. The rain-soaked game started fast as the Engineers jumped out to a quick lead just three minutes in and never looked back.

MIT led 3-0 after 10 minutes as Mackey entered the game midway through the opening stanza. She quickly went to work on the offensive end, recording three consecutive markers for the Cardinal and Gray. The first two goals on assists by Lia DiGiovanna before the freshman completed her first half hat trick late in the opening period, collecting her own rebound in front of the goal and pushing it home.

Moore is only the fourth true freshman to start a game on the offensive line for Nebraska.

Nebraska Athletics

Freshman Moore joins elite group on Nebraska's vaunted O-Line
Offensive tackle Tyler Moore became the true freshman offensive lineman to start a season opener for Nebraska -- ever. He played at left tackle against Chattanooga on Sept. 3 and returned to man the spot on Sept. 10, a pair of wins for the nationally ranked Huskers.

Moore is only the fourth true freshman offensive lineman to start a game at any point in a season, and only the 10th true freshman offensive lineman to participate in a game for Nebraska.

So far this season, Moore has helped the Huskers average 224.0 yards per game on the ground and 177.0 yards per contest through the air. He has protected the blind side and blocked for sophomore quarterback Taylor Martinez, who is tied for third nationally in rushing (150.50 yards per game) and is the only QB among the top 25 rushers.

Lewis wins Cardinal Classic behind Fredette's 84
Freshman Breanne Fredette lead Lewis College to a 350 team score as it won the North Central Cardinal Classic. The Flyers earned the event title in the 13-team field by finishing 16 strokes ahead of Carthage and host North Central.

Fredette placed second overall with a score of 84 in her collegiate debut. Calvin's Carlia Canto won the individual medal honor by finishing one stroke ahead with an 83.

Leila Marquet finished sixth overall by carding a score of 88. Vanessa Phillips and Carly Shapiro tied for seventh with an 89 as the only other Flyers to break 90. Overall, all six Lewis golfers finished in the top 16 at the tournament.

Binks

SC

Binks blanks Ohio State for Siena's first win against a ranked team in program history
Siena freshman goalie Jack Binks has been solid in goal through five games, posting a 0.99 goals-against-average. Overall, he has 15 saves through five games and one shutout with that coming in his second consecutive matchup against a ranked team to open the season.

After allowing only one goal against No. 18 Penn, Binks received the wins in the Saints’ victories against then-No. 15 Ohio State and Syracuse.

Against the Buckeyes, Binks made two saves in posting his first collegiate shutout and guiding Siena to its first win against a nationally ranked opponent in program history. He came back two days later to add five more saves as the Saints topped Syracuse 2-1 in overtime.

Gannon wins as Bennett grabs first career hat trick
Freshman Robbie Bennett scored a hat trick to lead Gannon to a 3-1 non-conference decision against Shepherd.

Bennett had to wait longer than expected to get started as the officials were 30 minutes late, but once the game kicked off, he was in full gear. Following a Gannon save and outlet, Ross Matthews played the ball toward Bennett, who beat a defender and put the ball past the goalie on the left side of the net at the 7:16 mark.

Bennett struck again just one minute and 10 seconds later on a header following a corner kick from Marnix van der Donk. At the break, Gannon held a 13-9 advantage in shots while Shepherd held a 4-2 edge in corner kicks.

Sheperd scored nine minutes into the second half but Bennett responded, completing his first career hat trick. On a ball played from the right side of the field, Bennett dribbled around the defender and then beat the goalie to the lower right half of the goal.